It seems that almost overnight, Shinsuke Nakamura has emerged as one of the hottest stars in the WWE today. And the latest WWE rumors suggest that he’ll really make his mark at the upcoming Payback pay-per-view event, where he is scheduled to face off against Dolph Ziggler.

Early predictions suggest that Nakamura will emerge victorious, and there are a number of reasons for this. However, it bears stating that many of these predictions about Nakamura are just WWE rumors and should be taken with a grain of salt. Since many outlets are reporting that Nakamura will win, it’s worth exploring nevertheless.

First, according to the latest WWE rumors from the Fanrag Sports Network, the reason the company crowned Ziggler as Nakamura’s first major-league opponent was because there’s no one else that could show that the hype around Nakamura is, really, just hype.

“To further exaggerate that dynamic, Nakamura debuted five weeks ago and has yet to have a match on SmackDown (not including dark matches). As a result, the whole buildup thus far has been built by promos and backstage segments. Ziggler aired his grievances on Tuesday. He called the fans hypocrites for their massive support of Nakamura, despite having no official WWE matches. Meanwhile, he noted that he himself had been busting his a– in WWE for eight years, and it felt like 12 (wink wink).”

Meanwhile, according to the latest WWE rumors from Daily DDT, there’s a suggestion that after Nakamura defeats Ziggler at Payback, he’s going to be fast-tracked to “main event” status.

The outlet suggests that while Nakamura’s feud with Ziggler will continue long after Payback, there’s a chance that this feud will quickly grow stale. The outlet further suggests that this is because Ziggler was never as big of a star as he could be, and continuing this feud will only be detrimental to Nakamura’s rising star.

“Without a doubt, Nakamura is WWE Championship caliber. But, it may be too soon, as becoming a WWE Championship contender this quickly after his first main roster win may be too big of a leap. A race for the United States Championship seems more plausible. Also, it’s a guaranteed money match, whether it’s with AJ Styles or Kevin Owens. Nakamura has had Match of the Year Contenders with Styles, Owens, and Sami Zayn in the past. Any scenario could be seen as a guaranteed dream rematch, ones WWE can be assured will pull in more hardcore wrestling fans.”

Further along those lines, the latest WWE rumors from Sportskeeda suggest that they know who will be facing off against Nakamura after he defeats Ziggler: Kevin Owens.

Like Daily DDT, Sportskeeda believes that Nakamura is on a fast track to championship gold. This outlet, however, cites the subsequent booking of Nakamura and Kevin Owens — along with the advertisement that it’s a championship match — on June 26 in Bakersfield, California, as proof positive that Nakamura will not only defeat Ziggler, but he’ll also defeat Kevin Owens and take home the United States Championship belt.

“Nakamura vs. Owens is being advertised for the June 26 live event in Bakersfield, with the venue also claiming that the match will be a championship bout. Nakamura and Owens have faced each other on three occasions previously, twice on WWE live shows and once at ROH’s War of the Worlds in 2014. Nakamura was victorious on all three occasions.”

Wrestling fans, now it’s your turn: What do you think of this latest round of WWE rumors? Do you think Nakamura will defeat Ziggler, and ultimately, Kevin Owens to win the WWE United States Championship?

Leave your thoughts about the latest WWE rumors on the King of Strong Style in the comments below.